There is absolutely no place for kidnappers in the world as long as Liam Neeson is still around. After jump-starting his new career as movie badass for hire with Taken (soon to be followed by Taken 2: More Takener), Neeson has a found a nice little niche for his work when he’s not busy being nominated for Oscars and stuff. That niche? Ass-kicking bad dudes (and, on occasion, bad wolves). And, in Neeson’s cinematic world, there is no one as bad as kidnappers.
Coming out of Cannes is the news that will star in A Walk Among the Tombstones, a film about a guy who (guess what!) goes after some nasty kidnappers. Seriously, kidnappers, put away your duct tape and tiny little magazine letters, it’s over for you. Scott Frank (who wrote Out of Sight, Get Shorty, and Minority Report, and made his directing debut with The Lookout) will write and direct the film, which is based on Lawrence Block’s “Matt Scudder” book series. There are currently seventeen Scudder books, so if the film is a success, it could swiftly turn into a new franchise.
The film is described as such: “Formerly a cop with the NYPD, now an unlicensed private eye and a recovering alcoholic haunted by past mistakes, Matt Scudder is hired to find the kidnapped wife of a drug dealer. He operates just outside the law where the police don’t go to track down the kidnappers, who he discovers have been involved in multiple kidnappings and brutal murders.”
The Scudder character been brought to the screen before, as portrayed by Jeff Bridges in 8 Million Ways to Die, though that film moved the action to Southern California and made Scudder become a sheriff’s deputy.
The film is part of a new agreement between Exclusive Media and Cross Creek Pictures, a three-year development and production deal that guarantees a minimum of two feature films per year with budgets up to $65m apiece. All films will be released theatrically through Cross Creek’s deal with Universal Pictures (Ron Howard’s Rush will be released through this deal).
A Walk Among the Tombstones will kick off production in February of 2013. [Press Release]